Degree Dividend
Sourced from federal dataEvery figure datedNo rankings for sale

Best colleges in South Carolina, ranked by ROI

All 60 South Carolina institutions we profile, ranked by payback years — total net cost divided by earnings above the $48,360 high-school baseline. Federal net price and earnings; payback is our math. (Scorecard, 2026.)

$15,995
Median net price / yr
Scorecard, 2026
$39,783
Median earnings, 10 yrs
Scorecard, 2026
6 yrs
Median payback
Our math, 2026
60
Colleges ranked
degreedividend.com
South Carolina colleges by payback (best first)
#CollegeNet price/yrEarnings 10yPayback
1Citadel Military College of South Carolina$20,723$72,0853.5 yrs
2Wofford College$18,732$68,9643.6 yrs
3Clemson University$22,253$71,5133.8 yrs
4Galen Health Institutes-Myrtle Beach$25,662$61,4803.9 yrs
5Furman University$30,308$68,6356 yrs
6University of South Carolina-Columbia$22,811$62,1776.6 yrs
7Presbyterian College$20,528$60,1946.9 yrs
8College of Charleston$18,960$56,4169.4 yrs
9Erskine College$16,525$53,45913 yrs
10University of South Carolina-Upstate$13,557$48,587238.9 yrs
11University of South Carolina Beaufort$14,656$48,088no payback
12Southern Wesleyan University$15,464$47,756no payback
13Coastal Carolina University$13,966$47,258no payback
14Winthrop University$15,343$47,185no payback
15Newberry College$21,656$48,040no payback
16University of South Carolina Aiken$11,641$45,603no payback
17University of South Carolina-Sumter$7,712$42,437no payback
18Francis Marion University$11,386$43,888no payback
19Charleston Southern University$21,666$45,898no payback
20Spartanburg Methodist College$14,580$42,895no payback
21Bob Jones University$16,641$44,354no payback
22Lander University$15,363$42,396no payback
23North Greenville University$21,063$43,035no payback
24Aiken Technical College$4,807$39,225no payback
25University of South Carolina-Lancaster$9,801$39,426no payback
26Midlands Technical College$4,647$38,701no payback
27Trident Technical College$1,406$38,253no payback
28Columbia College$18,408$41,338no payback
29Anderson University$23,544$42,101no payback
30Tri-County Technical College$14,670$40,101no payback
31Greenville Technical College$11,713$39,473no payback
32Claflin University$17,800$40,304no payback
33Spartanburg Community College$2,405$37,097no payback
34Strayer University-South Carolina$17,979$40,092no payback
35Converse University$23,283$40,867no payback
36York Technical College$5,931$37,257no payback
37Coker University$20,286$40,117no payback
38Horry-Georgetown Technical College$4,159$35,507no payback
39South Carolina State University$18,097$38,262no payback
40Orangeburg Calhoun Technical College$6,186$35,761no payback
41Columbia International University$26,036$38,951no payback
42Technical College of the Lowcountry$14,724$35,090no payback
43Piedmont Technical College$11,366$35,768no payback
44University of South Carolina-Union$8,065$33,699no payback
45Voorhees University$13,335$35,339no payback
46Florence-Darlington Technical College$2,004$32,748no payback
47Fortis College-Columbia$20,404$36,368no payback
48Central Carolina Technical College$5,571$32,603no payback
49Northeastern Technical College$6,913$32,141no payback
50University of South Carolina-Salkehatchie$9,229$31,360no payback
51South University-Columbia$27,693$34,421no payback
52Allen University$10,972$30,497no payback
53Benedict College$18,250$31,902no payback
54Williamsburg Technical College$9,887$29,935no payback
55Morris College$20,555$30,614no payback
56Southeastern College-Columbia$31,941$31,156no payback
57Southeastern College-Charleston$31,105$30,737no payback
58Paul Mitchell the School-Charleston$17,726$26,696no payback
59Paul Mitchell the School-Columbia$18,210$26,696no payback
60Denmark Technical College$19,156$25,351no payback

College Scorecard (2026), institution-level · ranking and payback are our math. Payback uses institution-wide earnings; a specific major can rank very differently.